Falkland man finds bomb on hillside

A PLUCKY pensioner removed an unexploded Second World War bomb from a hillside near Falkland because he “didn’t want children to find it”.

Bob Beveridge was walking his dog on slopes to the north side of the East Lomond Hill last Wednesday evening when he spotted the device sticking out of the grass.

A major operation involving police and bomb disposal teams was sparked following the find on a hillside just a few hundred yards from Falkland.

Although the bomb - thought to be a 7lb incendiary device - was in good condition, Mr Beveridge (68) knew it could be unstable and decided to move it “somewhere safe” before contacting the emergency services.

The retired detective admitted he was “a bit shaky” after carefully carrying the bomb off the hillside.

Police who rushed to the scene threw a cordon around the device, and contacted an army disposal team which made the bomb safe before removing it.

Mr Beveridge described how he made the discovery during a routine walk with his collie Hector.

“I spend half my life on the hill and was walking the dog when I saw this fin sticking out of the grass just by the side of an old ruined cottage,” he said.

“I could not see anything else at that stage, but thought I would take a closer look.”

He decided to remove it from the scene, having been aware of an incident during his police service 40 years ago when two children picked up a similar device which exploded.

One of the youngsters lost an eye, and the other was severely traumatised by the incident.

“I just felt I couldn’t leave it there in case any children picked it up,” explained Mr Beveridge.

“I knew it could be dangerous so maybe I shouldn’t have done it, but I didn’t want anybody else coming to any harm.”

After removing the bomb, Mr Beveridge alerted the police.

“Officers from Cupar came out but they would not touch it - in fact when they saw it they took several steps back,” he went on.

“They said they would need to get a bomb disposal team out to take a look.”

An army “explosive ordinance disposal” (EOD) crew duly arrived and made the incendiary device safe before taking it away.